Hi everyone,

have been using my premier 2ltr wet stone grinder but have run into a potential disaster.

I have only used it 3 times so far and its been brilliant, however on my last run on it some sickly looking dark green/black liquid was coming out from the axle and wheels and running into the delicious chocolate!

Firstly I am unsure what it is, it kind of looks like car grease which is not good.

2nd is it food safe? can I go ahead and taste the chocolate I made or should I condemn the entire batch?

3rd - is this normal? has anyone else come across this problem before?

I have attached some photos to give you a better idea of what I am up against. I have also contacted the company I purchased the machine from and await their response.

any help much appreciated

James

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updated by @james-hull: 04/14/15 01:53:09

Did you "wash" your machine by running oil and sugar through it for a few hours before making chocolate (discard the resulting oil & sugar mixture)? That helps clean off the stone dust/grit that comes with delivery.

Also, between each batch, are you removing the wheels and cleaning the insides of them (say with a cotton bud)?

Hi Gap,

Thanks for the reply. I didn't run oil and sugar through it when I got it, I washed everything, but didn't even occur to me to run oil and sugar through it. Does it have to be much of each to 'clean' it? and I will give that a go. I have cleaned off all the horrible black gunge stuff now, and hopefully that was the last of it.

I have been cleaning the wheels by dismantling it, but left the 'grease' stuff on the axles as I assumed that must be there for a reason and would be properly sealed....but I was wrong. I am still waiting to hear back from the company who told me they were going to take one apart to look at it. also got some samples to send to environmental health just in case.

thanks for the advice

My best guess from talking with a few people is the black "grease" on the axles is a mixture of cocoa butter and refined stone from the grinder. I always clean it off.

I ran a neutral vegetable oil and white sugar 50/50 when I first got the machine. I think total weight was about 600g. Then discarded the sugar/oil and washed down the grinder. I don't think there's a perfect way of doing it but that's what I did. If you've already run chocolate through it, you've probably done enough "cleaning" and the stone dust should be out by now.

That does sound like it might be what it is, as it seems to be liquid when warmed and goes hard when cooled. I heard back from the company who have apparently sent out a brand new machine which Is not what I was expecting but great! only wanted to know if they had seen it before. I will use your advice on the new machine and clean it first with oil and sugar, and clean inside the wheels thoroughly too after every batch.

Thanks for the help.